A quarter of Canadian children experience insomnia, according to UBC nursing professor Wendy Hall, the creator of a new online resource for parents of children with sleep issues. In an interview with Pulse FM (click on Nov. 10 and scroll down to Hall’s name), she noted that many studies show that insomnia impacts children’s development, their ability to learn at school, their academic performance and behaviour. They may act out or show anxiety, and their safety may be at risk as they’re more likely to have accidents if they’re sleep-deprived.
“Most health care professionals don’t get much education about sleep in their preparatory program so even if parents go to a primary health care provider and if the provider hasn’t had any education about that, they’re going to have difficulties giving advice to partners,” said Hall.
